Facial muscle and skin conditioning device



p 1970 M. J. RUDERIAN 3,528,655

FACIAL MUSCLE AND SKIN CONDITIONING DEVICE Filed May 29, 1968 lNVENTORMAX J. RUDERIAN swam MZb%cv ATTORNEYS US. Cl. 27282 United States Patent3,528,655 FACIAL MUSCLE AND SKIN CONDITIONING DEVICE Max J. Ruderian,Santa Monica, Calif., assignor to American Physical Fitness ResearchInstitute, Inc., a corporation of California Filed May 29, 1968, Ser.No. 733,122 Int. Cl. A6311 23/00 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Aresilient strip curved into an arched shaped configuration is receivedin a persons mouth with the forward portion of the strip engaging underthe lips and the rearwardly diverging portions of the arch shapeengaging opposite inner cheek surfaces. Contraction of the cheek musclesto bring the inner surfaces of the cheek closer together urges thediverging ends of the arch closer together and thus exerts a forwardprotruding pressure on the central portion of the member to stretch thelips thereby effecting exercising of the facial muscles and associatedskin. The resiliency of the member tends to return it to its originalshape. Suitable openings are provided for breathing purposes as Well asenabling the insertion of auxiliary members to vary the dimensions ofthe device to accommodate different mouth configurations.

This invention relates generally to exercising devices and moreparticularly to a novel facial muscle and skin conditioning member forinsertion in a persons mouth to facilitate exercising of cheek, lip, andassociated muscular areas of the face.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Isometric or equal opposing pressures typesof exercises for conditioning various muscles of the body have beenpracticed to a considerable extent in recent years. The basic theory ofsuch exercises is that pulling or pushing of portions of the bodyagainst each other or immovable objects exercises and tones the musclesand corresponding skin areas.

While several different types of isometric exercises have been outlinedin the literature, most of these teachings relate to the conditioning ofleg, arm, shoulder, and back muscles. More recently, several types ofexercises have been proposed for conditioning the facial muscles andassociated skin area, primarily with the end in view of reducing or eveneliminating facial skin wrinkles. Some of these exercises have taken theform of a person inserting the thumbs in the mouth and applying outwardpressures against the inner cheek surfaces thus stretching the musclesand skin in the associated mouth area. Opposing this pressure can beaccomplished by drawing the cheeks taut or attempting to contract thesame against the pressures of the thumbs. Similarly, thumb or fingerpressures have been applied to the inside of the upper and lower lips tostretch and generally exercise the same.

From the above description, it can be appreciated that such facial typeexercises can be somewhat unpleasant as well as unsanitary.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention contemplates anexercising device particularly designed for use in a persons mouth toprovide pressures against which a person can exert opposing pressures bythe inner surfaces of the lips and checks all to the end that the use ofa persons fingers or thumbs or other portions of his hands for exertingopposing pressures is eliminated.

Essentially, the device is in the form of a resilient strip 3,528,655Patented Sept. 15., 1970 ice member which may be made of a rubber-likematerial or flexible plastic curved into an arched configuration forinsertion in a persons mouth. A central forward portion of the memberengages under the lips and the rearwardly diverging portions definingthe arch shape engage opposite inner cheek surfaces. With thisarrangement, a person may exert inward pressure on the divergingportions by contracting his cheek muscles which action tends to causethe central forward portion of the strip to protrude and thus exert astretching pressure on the lips. The resilient nature of the device willexert an opposing force and thus the desired facial exercises can becarried out.

In accord with certain features of the invention, the device includes acentral elongated opening providing an air passage to facilitatebreathing as well as auxiliary openings in the rearwardly divergingportions for receiving auxiliary attachments such as pads to increasethe cheek engaging area of these rear portions. Also, wedge type insertsmay be received in the openings to vary the overall dimensions of thedevice and thus accommodate different mouth configurations.

With a device as described above, a person can readily exercise hisfacial muscles with his hands completely free to carry on other types ofexercises at the same time or other activities. In other words, theentire exercising operation for the facial muscles can be carried on bya working of these facial muscles themselves against the inserted deviceand thus it is not necessary for a person to insert his fingers orthumbs in his mouth.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of theinvention will be had by referring to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the device with auxiliarycomponents shown separated;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view partly broken away of a persons faceuseful in explaining the manner in which the device is used; and,

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the device of FIG. 1 with certainauxiliary components secured thereto.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to FIG. 1there is shown a resilient strip member 10 curved into an archedconfiguration. As shown, the strip has a general average thicknessdesignated by the letter T and a width in a vertical direction having anaverage value designated by the letter W. This strip may be made of ahard rubber-like resilient material or even a plastic. Preferably, W isat least equal to 3T.

The forward central portion of the strip is enlarged in a verticaldirection as indicated at 11 such that the width at this portion isincreased over the average width of the rearwardly diverging portions.These latter rearwardly diverging portions are indicated at 12 and 13.

The central portion 11 includes a central air passage 14 preferablyelongated in an horizontal direction. The diverging end portions 12 and13 may also be provided with generally horizontally extending elongatedopenings 15 and 16. These openings include upper ad lower centralnotches such as indicated at 15a, 15b for the opening 15 and 16a, 16bfor the opening 16. These openings serve as a removable coupling meansfor auxiliary pad members 17 and 18 which may be affixed to the outerfacing surface areas of the diverging end portions 12 and 13. Towardsthis end, each of the pads 17 and 18 include centrally disposedprotruding stem structures of crossshaped configuration such asindicated at 19 for the pad 17. This cross-shaped configuration maywedgingly be received in the opening and notches 15, 15a, and 15b. Theauxiliary member 18 may similarly he secured within the opening 16.

Referring once again to the forward central portion of the member inFIG. 1, the opening 14 may similarly be provided with upper and lowernotches at the central portion thereof as indicated at 14a and 14b.These notches together with the opening are designed to receive a wedgemember such as indicated at which, when inserted, will serve to expandin a vertical direction the central portion 11 of the device thusincreasing the vertical width at this area.

Referring now to FIG. 2 there is shown a person 21 utilizing the deviceof this invention for exercising and toning the facial muscles andassociated skin. As shown,

the device is inserted in the mouth such that the central forwardportion engages under the persons lips 22 and 23 while the rearwardlydiverging portions engage against the inner surfaces of the personscheek.

In FIG. 2, the rearwardly diverging portion 12 is shown with theauxiliary pad member 17 afiixed to its outer facing surface thusincreasing the surface engaging area of the device with the personscheek. It will .be noted that the persons teeth engage on the innerupper edge surfaces of the arch shaped device so that the outer portionsof the device bear directly under the lips 22 and 23.

In FIG. 2, the central opening 14 will be seen to provide a breathingpassage so that the person may breathe through the mouth if desired. InFIG. 2, the auxiliary wedge element 20 described in FIG. 1 has not beeninserted in the opening 14. However, if the person had a relativelylarge mouth or wished to exert greater pressure to the under surfaces ofthe lips 22 and 23, the wedge device 20 would be inserted within theopening 14 and corresponding notches to expand the vertical dimension.

The foregoing expansion of the central portion 11 will be evident fromFIG. 3 which illustrates the device 20 inserted within the opening 14and associated notches. As indicated by the arrows 28 and 29, thevertical width of the central portion 11 has been increased.

OPERATION In operation, the device 10 is inserted in a persons mouthsuch as illustrated in FIG. 2 so that the central forward portion 11engages well under the upper and lower lips 22 and 23 and the divergingportions 12 and 13 engage the opposite inner surfaces of the personscheeks. If desired, the pads 17 and 18 may first be afiixed to thediverging end portions to increase the engaging area with the personschecks should a person have a relatively large cheek area. Further, andas described heretofore, the wedge element 20 may be inserted toincrease the vertical dimension of the central portion should a personhave relatively large lips.

In carrying out a facial exercise, the person will first cause hischeeks to become taut or contracted in such a manner as to exert aninward pressure against the diverging portions 12 and 13. This actiontends to decrease the divergence between the end portions thus causing aforward protruding force to be exerted at the forward portion 11 whichwill stretch the lips 22 and 23. The resiliency of the strip will tendto return it to its initial shape so that when a person relaxes thecheek pressure on the diverging ends, the ends will again divergeoutwardly exerting a counterpressure on the cheeks.

The foregoing operation may be repeated without the person having to usehis thumbs or fingers in effecting stretching of his various facialareas.

By properly exercising in the foregoing manner, the persons facialmuscles will be exercised and the associated skin properly toned withthe net result of diminution of face wrinkles and the like.

It will thus be seen that the present invention has provided anexercising device wherein various disadvantages encountered With priorart methods of facial isometrics have been avoided and the advantages ofproper facial exercise fully realized.

What is claimed is:

l. A facial muscle and skin conditioning device comprising: a resilientstrip member (a) curved into an arched configuration for insertion in apersons mouth with a central forward portion thereof engaging under atleast one lip and rearwardly diverging portions thereof defining outerfacing end surfaces opposite inner cheek surfaces;

(b) said central portion being of increased width in a generallyvertical direction relative to the width of said diverging portions toengage well under said lip; and

(c) auxiliary pad members mounted to said outer facing end surfaces todefine a cheek engaging area,

whereby inward muscular contraction of the cheek muscles of said personagainst said auxiliary pad members urges said central portion forwardlyto exert stretching pressure on said lip thereby exercising the facialmuscles and improving the associated skin tone.

2. A facial muscle and skin conditioning device according to claim 1,including an horizontally elongated central airpassage opening, theupper and lower center portions of said opening including notches; and awedge member receivable in said opening and notches to expand the widthof. said central portion to accommodate different lip configurations.

3. A facial muscle and skin conditioning device according to claim 1, inwhich said rearwardly diverging portions each include a generallyhorizontally elongated opening with upper and lower notches at thecentral portions thereof, each associated pad member having a centrallyprojecting stem of cross-shaped configuration receivable in said openingand notches to affix the pad to said outer facing end surface.

4. A facial muscle and skin conditioning device according to claim 1, inwhich the average width of said strip is at least three times as greatas the average thickness of said strip.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,685,287 8/1954 Golfier l28602,702,032 2/1955 Freedland l28l36 2,708,931 5/1955 Freedland l28l363,091,237 5/1963 Skinner l2860 3,203,417 8/1965 Helmer l28l36 3,286,57611/1966 West l28l36 3,386,732 6/1968 Robins 27257 RICHARD PINKHAM,Primary Examiner R. W. DIAZ, JR., Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.272-57

